How to Turn First-Time Clients into Loyal Customers

Want to keep salon newbies coming back, and re-booking? A lot of it has to do with how you present yourself not only in store, but online as well. The best way to turn a first-timer into a loyal customer is to give them an experience that convinces them to come back.

This experiences starts from their first impression of you online, to the moment they step out the salon doors, making sure your salon space is clean and fresh, you have hired the right people, booking is easy and you continue to interact on social media.

  1. Your Salon.
    The top priority is making sure your salon is calming and inviting. What do clients see (and feel) when they first walk through the doors? Are there opportunities to improve your layout or delight clients that you aren’t taking advantage of? It is important to think about what your clients are looking for when they visit you, is it a respite away from home with a luxurious feel, or do you want them to feel homely and comfortable? Not only how the salon looks, but how it feels and smells also play an integral part into the experience. Things like music playing, the scents, complimentary drinks or special services that you provide entice people to come back to reap more rewards.

  2. Your Staff.
    Finding staff that have a true passion and understanding for not only the products and services you are offering, but the client’s needs as well, is key to running a smooth salon. Happy staff makes for happy clients in any situation, enjoying an extraordinary experience on both ends. The key is to hire staff that have natural customer service skills and passion. These are difficult to train so are integral to have. Promote your staff online by name so your client base gets familiar with faces and names, and teach your staff to also greet people by name when they come in the door

  3. Your Bookings.
    Booking appointments can be stressful at the best of times, and a big chore for many people. Making this process easy, and even online, is a sure way to get clients to re-book. Online booking systems avoid the phone-tag some stores play to get a hold of someone. This ensures the process is less stressful for the client and easier for you to track your available days and times. Convenience for them means more business for you, as well as the ability to track trends in bookings like popular therapists and services.

  4. Your Social Media Presence.
    From pre- to post-booking you should have a strong presence online for your clients. From researching your services to reviewing the treatment they had, make sure to keep the conversation going through social media. It is a great engagement tool for you to keep tabs on your clients and cutting through the noise of any other posts your clients are following. Post small bouts of information, humour, inspiration or create your own video content to share each day.

The Influencer Effect

Did you know, 3% of people yield over 90% of impact online? Digital Natives highlights that when a trusted person speaks on their social platforms, others listen, and react.

For decades, consumer purchases were driven by brand loyalty, from what their parents used, or what has the strongest promotion available. Yet, recent times have seen consumers not only embrace digital technology and social media platforms, but rely on it through the power of online recommendation culture, brought to you by influential digital players and aptly named, influencers.

You have probably noticed by now the large amount of people that tune out, skip, or even fast-forward through ads on television and in magazines. They are acutely aware of the fact that they are being advertised to, and switch off.

However, social media stars, including public figures like Kylie Jenner, Hailey Baldwin and Bella Hadid, and YouTubers such as Zoella, Lauren Curtis, Nikkie Tutorials and Manny MUA, among millions of beautiful and personable models and bloggers, have created their own respected businesses built upon their social following and ability to drive millions towards (or away from) one product in the industry.

Consumers as young as 10 and as old as 85 turn to a trusted network of online influencers - who have become business owners in their own right - to make decisions based on their firsthand perspective and experiences. They are not exactly valued for their fame, but for their personality and ability to connect with the people who follow their every move, with their opinions resonating much more effectively than conventional ads do.

Brands are becoming less obsessed with ‘household names’ and more focused on ‘handheld names’.

Any given influencer can have reach up to millions and beyond, while your trusty beauty magazine may only have a readership of 40,000, with influencer marketing becoming 11 times more effective than banner ads. This strong hold on the public only works to highlight why the digital arena is where your salon marketing is heading, with genuine, trusted recommendations from their favourite influencer being proven to be the most powerful way to influence consumer behaviour.

But how?

Online recommendations from anyone other than the brand themselves generates trust.

Twitter studies have reported that people now trust influencers nearly as much as they trust their friends and neighbours. These trendsetters can drive a conversation about a brand or product faster than it takes to design a print ad, and receive double the attention. The relatability, expertise and relevance to their audience drives SEO, engagement and a genuine wave of interest from their authentic followings.

Back in the day, consumers took top-down marketing and ran with it, as it was the only form available essentially. But now we operate in a time where consumers have grown distrustful of brand messaging and brand partnerships that feel inauthentic. Consumers are smart; they are able to identify when a message is forged by the brand itself. Bloggers and vloggers have insights into their audience and are able to not only navigate channels but inspire their followers in ways brands cannot.

Why not capitalise on that? Influencers go into your salons too, and you may not even know. With 92% of women considering online reviews extremely important when making a purchase, it is time to do your research on who you need to know and develop relationships with to create authentic, meaningful content to a wide audience of millions.

Salon of the Month – Beautiful You Hair & Beauty Day Spa

Beautiful You.jpg

Beautiful You Hair & Beauty Spa is a beautiful boutique salon, residing on the Redcliffe Peninsula in Queensland, and specialising in high quality hairdressing and beauty therapy treatments. Their day spa extends from simple treatment services to offer a truly unique experience to their keen clients.

Beautiful You’s treatments are based on how they can provide exceptional services, in a safe and relaxing environment, priding themselves on giving their clients a personalised service, tailoring to every guest’s individual concerns and needs. Making each treatment ‘one to remember’, guest care is the driving force behind the salon. Every therapist is trained, passionate, informed, caring and excel at offering world-class beauty treatments. From beautiful robes, rooms and treatments to customised skincare programmes and exceptional therapists, Beautiful You is not just a salon, it is an experience.

“Our therapists have a personal relationship with our extensive PBS product range, and pride ourselves on promoting that ‘visiting a friend’ atmosphere for our clients”, explains Toni Hilton, the driven leader of the spa.

Beautiful You Hair & Beauty knows the importance of stocking the best products in the industry in order to impress clients with new and exciting products on a regular basis, as well as promoting a culture in their spa of improving the way their guests look and feel, and trusting them with their beauty needs.

“We are proud to carry and recommend PBS products”, Toni Hilton says, with the spa stocking Image Skincare exclusively in their area, as well as Wotnot, Pure Fiji, Bestow Beauty and Sunescape. After attending Sydney Beauty Expo some years ago, Toni was exposed to Image Skincare after trialling a peel, and never turned back. So impressed with the results, she immediately purchased the range for her salon, because “the results speak for themselves”.

“We have proudly been a PBS salon for 5/6 Years and will continue support throughout the coming years.”

From starting with only Image Skincare, Beautiful You grew to become an incredible part of the PBS community, taking advantage of our training and marketing material for her products, which has dramatically helped salon sales and interest.

Along with their trust and devotion to the products they stock, Beautiful You Hair & Beauty create VIP evenings to encourage their clients to become a true part of their salons, as well as giving her own staff ‘gift of the month’ to encourage them to also post, share and interact with others about their products and treatments.

“This has worked incredibly well and given our clients the opportunity to receive accurate product and treatment information with a touch of Beautiful You love.”

What makes Beautiful You stand out among the crowd is their attention to building an online presence, using our MOAP around the salon and on social media to promote monthly specials, which has resulted in increased sales and bookings for treatments. Their genuine excitement as a team to share their products with their clients has won them accolades like ‘Best Beauty Salon’ for the Redcliffe Quest newspaper, as well as ambassadorship for the ‘Joining Hands’ charity.

“Our mantra is ‘Awaken the Beauty Within’, you can only do that with the best products! Thanks PBS!”

Congratulations to the team at Beautiful You Hair & Beauty Day Spa for the amazing results you give and hard work you achieve. Here’s to your continued success in the future!

THE Quick Beauty Fix: The Rising Popularity of Sheet Masks

The biggest trend to hit the beauty industry is clearly and overwhelmingly K-Beauty, or Korean Beauty, where the nation’s trends of everyday beauty routines are only just hitting our shores to be utilised by anyone from local salons to big beauty brands in the trade.

While most of our bathroom cabinets are likely full to the brim with a mixture of our classic staple beauty bits and skincare fads with exotic ingredients and a host of scents, nothing can compare to the beauty standards held in South Korea. While their well-known 15 step everyday skincare regime (cleanse, tone, moisturise, the list goes on) might be out of our achievable reach, there is some aspects of this routine that we can, and willingly, get on board with…

Now we know from these incredible Asian beauty care trends, your daily beauty routine is really not complete without the use of a sheet mask. This trend is seemingly perfect for a quick fix for every beauty need, with formulas being made for specific skin issues, from dry to ageing to sensitive skin.

If you need any more persuading of the rising popularity of sheet masks in your skincare routine, revisit the beauty invasion of BB Creams. 5 years ago this niche product was hardly heard of, but now this has become a true staple in everyone’s makeup arsenal, globally.

Sheet masks are now being produced globally, including Image Skincare’s incredible new collection I MASK, which launches two new intense biomolecular sheet masks into their clinical grade skincare line for that needed hit of hydration.

Sheet masks are simply facial fabric sheets, as the name explains, infused with a serum or gel like product that is placed directly onto the face to soak for 10-20 minutes, in order to maximise the product’s penetration and results. The fabric locks in the treatment to ensure the most effective delivery of ingredients and in under 20 minutes, you are able to see physical results like improved tone, firmness and hydration. It is perfect to use in your everyday routine at home, and an ideal addition to services in salon, such as LED treatment or facials.

The best benefit from sheet masks is the instant hydration hit you receive. Sheet masks bring back the hydration we naturally lose daily, immediately. With ingredients like strong peptides and antioxidants, as well as brightening botanicals, sheet masks are guaranteed to leave your skin plump, dewy and glowing.

Here’s why we love them:

  • Each mask gives you the correct application dosage – Forget the days when you over or under-applied your face mask, with sheet masks each package has the exact dosage of hydration your skin needs without the worry

  • There’s a formula for every skin concern – Each sheet masks comes in different formulas to combat multiple skin concerns, including dull, dry and ageing skin

  • A-listers swear by them – If you didn’t trust the hundreds of incredible beauty trends that have come out of South Korea, just trust what Hollywood’s biggest celebs are doing. From supermodels like Chrissy Teigen and Karolina Kurkova, to Lady Gaga and Lena Dunham, sheet masks are officially the perfect treatment for all skin types and concerns

Image Skincare’s latest product launches included their new range, I MASK, which launched two new sheet mask formulas, designed to give your skin the ultimate hydration boost and skin rejuvenation at its most intense. With breakthrough hydrogel technology that stands above previous sheet mask formulations like biocellulose masks to deliver the patented biomolecular hydrogel mask, Image’s I MASK range will wow and impress.

I MASK Biomolecular Anti-aging Radiance Mask
Anti-aging sheet mask infuses skin with a unique fusion of volcanic water, brightening botanicals, peptides and antioxidants for the ultimate youthful appearance and radiance.

I MASK Biomolecular Hydrating Radiance Mask
Derived from red algae and carob tree, this revolutionary soothing hydrogel mask was developed to increase delivery of active ingredients to lift, brighten and deeply hydrate skin after a single application.

Time to Channel Effortless California Beauty

Flawless, bronzed skin. Neutral eyes. Glowing cheeks. Subtly stained lips. Californian beauty arrives in Australia with Youngblood Mineral Cosmetics’ fresh new brand direction, moving towards that Effortless California Beauty look that is so coveted and loved across the globe.

You already know Youngblood as the beauty destination for high quality makeup with a comprehensive palette of shades with realistic skin tones and beautiful natural finishes. But our new direction, including our image, tagline and beautiful models, really hones in on our core message, to provide beautiful products to people for their flawless skin to shine through.

Youngblood continues to create top-quality products that are innovative in both formulation and packaging. Pauline's compassion led her to develop her first products in a medical setting. Today, the company carries on her original values: a passion for providing the healthiest, highest quality products, while empowering women to look and feel their best.

Our range promotes skin, beautiful skin that gives you the confidence to enhance your face, not cover it. Skin is in, and for that classic sunkissed California look, made beautiful by hundreds of makeup artists and women worldwide, Youngblood tops your list.

Top tips to achieving the Effortless California Beauty look:

  • Use a skin mist as an integral part of your makeup application, to prep and then set. Minerals in the Mist keeps skin looking dewy and fresh

  • Avoid trend makeup like it’s going out of style (because it is…). Keeping your look natural, with the person being the focus of attention – not their lips or eyes – attracts comments like “you look good” over “your makeup looks good”, for the perfect effortless beauty look.

  • Skin is in. Your makeup all starts with your base. So enhance your natural skin and let it shine through, don’t cover up. Youngblood’s range of 5 foundations, from liquid to loose, gives your skin a beautiful boost, building upon the canvas you already have.

Not all mineral cosmetics are created equal. Youngblood Mineral Cosmetics is the premier mineral cosmetic line available, because of the luxury formulation, ideal milling process, and chic, upscale image and packaging. Without looking heavy Youngblood covers almost every distraction. For people who suffer from rosacea, their inflammation can be covered effectively in minutes and the redness will not bleed through.

To enquire about becoming a Youngblood salon or for more information, call 1800 625 387 or visit www.youngbloodmineralcosmetics.com.au.